Ragnhild Sigurdsdatter

  General Notes:

Born: Abt 830, Ringerike, Norway
Marriage: Halvdan "den Svarte" Gudrødsson about 860
General Notes:
Levde ca. 850.I Cappelen's Norges historie nevnes Halvdan Svartes ekteskap med Ragnhild, datter til en kong Harald Gullskjegg i Sogn. Snorre Sturlasson forteller imidlertid om to hustruer, begge med navnet Ragnhild.Snorre fører Halvdans andre hustru som datter til Sigurd Hiort, konge på Romerike, større og sterkere enn alle andre. Det sies at Sigurd, bare 12 år gammel, drepte berserken Hildebrand og 11 av hans menn i enekamp. Sigurd øvet mange storverk, men en dag han red på jakt etter storvilt, ble han drept av Hake berserk med 30 menn nær Hadeland. Hake førte Ragnhild til sin gård på Hadeland og holdt henne der, men måtte senere gi henne til Halvdan Svarte.Sigurd skulle være sønn til Helge "den Kvasse" og Åslaug, datter til Sigurd Orm-i-øye, hvis far var Ragnar Lodbrok fra den sagnpregede Lodbrokslekten. Slekten skal ha etterfulgt Ynglingeslekten som konger av Sverige fra 655 til 785. Det er uklart hvor stor del av Sverige slekten regjerte over. Den ble etterfulgt av Munsöslekten som egentlig var en gren av Lodbrokslekten."Fagerskinna" kaller Halvdans andre hustru Helga "den Hårprude" og anfører at hennes far var Dag "den Frode".From Snorre Sturlasson: Halvdan Svarte [Halfdan the Black] Saga:"5. HALFDAN'S MARRIAGE WITH HJORT'S DAUGHTER.Sigurd Hjort was the name of a king in Ringerike, who was stouter and stronger than any other man, and his equal could not be seen for a handsome appearance. His father was Helge Hvasse (the Sharp); and his mother was Aslaug, a daughter of Sigurd the worm-eyed, who again was a son of Ragnar Lodbrok. It is told of Sigurd that when he was only twelve years old he killed in single combat the berserk Hildebrand, and eleven others of his comrades; and many are the deeds of manhood told of him in a long saga about his feats. Sigurd had two children, one of whom was a daughter, called Ragnhild, then twenty years of age, and an excellent brisk girl. Her brother Guthorm was a youth. ...... When King Halfdan, who was very quick of sight, saw the party returning over the frozen lake, and with a covered wagon, he knew that their errand was accomplished according to his desire. Thereupon he ordered the tables to be set out, and sent people all round in the neighbourhood to invite plenty of guests; and the same day there was a good feast which was also Halfdan's marriage-feast with Ragnhild, who became a great queen. Ragnhild's mother was Thorny, a daughter of Klakharald king in Jutland, and a sister of Thrye Dannebod who was married to the Danish king, Gorm the Old, who then ruled over the Danish dominions.""6. OF RAGNHILD'S DREAM.Ragnhild, who was wise and intelligent, dreamt great dreams. She dreamt, for one, that she was standing out in her herb-garden, and she took a thorn out of her shift; but while she was holding the thorn in her hand it grew so that it became a great tree, one end of which struck itself down into the earth, and it became firmly rooted; and the other end of the tree raised itself so high in the air that she could scarcely see over it, and it became also wonderfully thick. The under part of the tree was red with blood, but the stem upwards was beautifully green and the branches white as snow. There were many and great limbs to the tree, some high up, others low down; and so vast were the tree's branches that they seemed to her to cover all Norway, and even much more.""7. OF HALFDAN'S DREAM.King Halfdan never had dreams, which appeared to him an extraordinary circumstance; and he told it to a man called Thorleif Spake (the Wise), and asked him what his advice was about it. Thorleif said that what he himself did, when he wanted to have any revelation by dream, was to take his sleep in a swine-sty, and then it never failed that he had dreams. The king did so, and the following dream was revealed to him. He thought he had the most beautiful hair, which was all in ringlets; some so long as to fall upon the ground, some reaching to the middle of his legs, some to his knees, some to his loins or the middle of his sides, some to his neck, and some were only as knots springing from his head. These ringlets were of various colours; but one ringlet surpassed all the others in beauty, lustre, and size. This dream he told to Thorleif, who interpreted it thus:-- There should be a great posterity from him, and his descendants should rule over countries with great, but not all with equally great, honour; but one of his race should be more celebrated than all the others. It was the opinion of people that this ringlet betokened King Olaf the Saint.King Halfdan was a wise man, a man of truth and uprightness -- who made laws, observed them himself, and obliged others to observe them. And that violence should not come in place of the laws, he himself fixed the number of criminal acts in law, and the compensations, mulcts, or penalties, for each case, according to every one's birth and dignity (1).Queen Ragnhild gave birth to a son, and water was poured over him, and the name of Harald given him, and he soon grew stout and remarkably handsome. As he grew up he became very expert at all feats, and showed also a good understanding. He was much beloved by his mother, but less so by his father."ENDNOTES:(1) The penalty, compensation, or manbod for every injury, due the party injured, or to his family and next of kin if the injury was the death or premeditated murder of the party, appears to have been fixed for every rank and condition, from the murder of the king down to the maiming or beating a man's cattle or his slave. A man for whom no compensation was due was a dishonored person, or an outlaw. It appears to have been optional with the injured party, or his kin if he had been killed, to take the mulct or compensation, or to refuse it, and wait for an opportunity of taking vengeance for the injury on the party who inflicted it, or on his kin. A part of each mulct or compensation was due to the king; and, these fines or penalties appear to have constituted a great proportion of the king's revenues, and to have been settled in the Things held in every district for administering the law with the lagman.Disse to drømmene som Snorre forteller, har en klar funksjon. De er plassert lik en inngangsportal til hans storverk, sagaene om de norske konger, eller Heimskringla, og de viser hvilket perspektiv han har valgt for sin sagaskrivning. Hans program ligger i de drømmene han lar dronning Ragnhild og Halvdan Svarte fortelle. Det er kongeætten og dens menn han vil skildre - hvordan den "bredte seg over hele Norge og enda lenger", hvordan den fikk "rå land og rike med stor heder", men også hvordan enkelte ble "større og gjevere enn de andre". Snorres norgeshistorie er i virkeligheten en ættesaga og et helteepos. Det er en rekke høvdinger som står i brennpunktet for interessen - høvdinger som skilte seg ut ved det at de ble gjevere enn alle andre og fikk makt til å rå over et helt folks skjebne.
Noted events in her life were:
• She was a Queen.
Ragnhild married Halvdan "den Svarte" Gudrødsson, son of Gudröd "Veidekonge" Halvdansson and Åsa Haraldsdatter, about 860. (Halvdan "den Svarte" Gudrødsson was born circa 820 in Vestfold, Norway and died in 860 in Stein, Ringerike, Norway.) The cause of her death was drowning.

Ragnhild married Halvdan "den Svarte" Gudrodsson, son of Gudrod "Veidekonge" Halvdansson and Asa Haraldsdatter, about 860. (Halvdan "den Svarte" Gudrodsson was born about 820 in Vestfold, Norway and died in 860 in Stein, Ringerike, Norway.)